The mascot of a Pokémon game is the Pokémon that appears on the boxart—and often label—of that game.

Early on, the mascot of a game was not necessarily relevant plot-wise, and did not have to be even met to complete the game. Generation III (with the exception of the Generation Iremakes) began the trend of the game mascot being mandatory to encounter in order to progress the plot, and more recent games even force the player to catch the mascot to continue. Game mascot Pokémon are often given increased catch rates and the ability to respawn if they are defeated in order to account for this. All game mascots after Generation I have been Legendary Pokémon, barring Generation I's remakes.

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